Man with gun fatally shot by Will County deputy

By Heywood Hoffman | Tribune reporterMay 06, 2011

An apparently suicidal and intoxicated man armed with a handgun was fatally shot by a Will County sheriff's deputy today after authorities said he pointed the weapon at officers who had responded to his Beecher residence.

Edward S. Jermolowicz, 69, had been drinking for the past four days and about 9:30 a.m. threatened to kill himself and his former girlfriend in the home where he rented a room from her, according to a release from the Will County sheriff's office.

The woman called 911 from her home in the 0-100 block of Bobwhite Lane in Pheasant Lake Estates, and at the direction of county dispatch was able to flee the home and take refuge with a neighbor. Police surrounded the home, and Jermolowicz -- carrying the weapon -- opened and slammed shut the front door of the home a few times, the office said.

Authorities also could see through a window that Jermolowicz was holding the gun to his head, and despite repeated contacts with deputies he refused to surrender the gun. Jermolowicz then opened the front door again, and while threatening to kill himself turned and pointed the loaded and cocked .38-caliber revolver at deputies, according to the release.

Fearing for the safety of responders and others at the scene, a deputy shot Jermolowicz once in the chest, the office said. An ambulance took Jermolowicz to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights, where he was pronounced dead.

According to Sheriff Paul Kaupas, the investigation is being handled by the Will County sheriff’s office Investigations Unit, monitored by the Will County state’s attorney’s office.